Pizza 44 to Serve Up Pies in Burlington's South End

People looking for a restaurant meal in the South End of Burlington have plenty of options: burgers, raw fish, gnocchi, salads, curry, bratwurst, pasta, poutine, soups. But if they want pizza, they're out of luck.

That will change in about a month, when Pizza 44 opens at 703 Pine Street, in the front of the building that houses Queen City Brewery. The 50-seat restaurant is owned by Tim Williams of Shelburne, who reopened Archie's Grill in his hometown three years ago.

Pizza 44 will serve two varieties of pie, a thick-crusted Sicilian and a crispy, thinner-shelled version, Williams said. They'll be baked in a hybrid oven that burns wood and uses gas for supplemental heat from below. In addition to pizza, the restaurant will offer salads, a selection of sandwiches, and appetizers. Pizza 44 also will serve beer and wine; its 10 tap lines will pour mostly Vermont beers, including ones from the neighboring brewery.

"There's no legit pizza between downtown and South Burlington," Williams said. "I'm a lifelong pizza connoisseur and hobbyist. When the space became available, we said, 'Let's do it.'"

Williams, 56, who also owns an office furniture business called Exterus, said he's pleased to be joining the South End food scene. "We love it," he said of the neighborhood. "There's tons of energy there. We think it's going to be a great place to do business."

Changes are happening at Queen City Brewery, too; as part of the building's renovation, it will expand to encompass a room for community events and storage. Those events could include live music, brewery co-owner Paul Hale said.

The taproom, currently accessible from the rear of the building, will gain an entry in the front. Pizza 44 customers will have the option of ordering to go and eating in the brewery, Hale said.

"It's a good synergy," he said of the shared space. "I hear [pizza] goes well with beer."

Pizza 44 will be open daily from 11:30 a.m. through dinnertime.

The original print version of this article was headlined "Pies in the Hood"

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